According to the Afghanistan branch of the Young Journalists Club, Ahmad Shah Sharifi and his brothers have established the first ostrich farm in ancient Herat province. He started his business with a $50,000 investment from the sale of his own house.
He said: In order to introduce this bird and offer new and useful products to compatriots, he has launched this work.
He reminded: It has been a year since we opened this farm and for the first time we bought 120 ostrich chicks from Iran and imported them to Herat. Initially, a large number of these birds died due to lack of facilities, but now the number of adult ostriches on his farm reaches 50 pieces.
He added: Last year, the weight of each ostrich chick, which was 20 days old at the time of purchase, was about one to two kilograms, now the weight of each has reached 100 to 120 kilograms. We wanted to serve our country and our fellow citizens. Because as is clear, the breeding of other animals and birds is prevalent in Afghanistan, but no action has been taken on the breeding of ostriches and I wanted to offer a new product to my compatriots.
According to Mr. Sharifi, Afghanistan’s climate is favorable for ostrich breeding. “It is a pleasure that our ostriches have grown very well compared to Iran, which is the second largest ostrich producer and exporter of ostrich meat in the region, and Afghanistan’s climate is more suitable for their cultivation than Iran,” he said. Wet is proven.
Sharifi said about youth employment: There are more than 1,000 ostrich farms in Iran, and hundreds of people are employed on each farm. But since our farm has fewer financial resources, I am the only one with my family members. I prepared the capital to start the farm from the money from the sale of my house. Currently, we are about ten members of a family who are engaged in raising ostriches. I intend to expand my activities and hope to create jobs for a large number of my compatriots in the future and be able to create conditions to employ 50 to 100 people on each farm.
He stressed: We do not have capital and have not received any assistance from the government and officials of the Ministry of Agriculture. Despite our repeated requests, not even a small amount of food has been offered to the farm as support.
We hope to implement great plans in the future with the help and support of national businessmen, the Herat Agriculture and Livestock Department, as well as our own efforts.
The citizen of Herat stressed: These birds are the best alternative for livestock farmers for cows and sheep, because they are low-maintenance and adapt to different environments and climates. These birds can survive from 30 degrees below zero to 50 degrees above zero.
“I plan to market other products such as eggs, oil, feathers and even ostrich skins for leather production,” he said.
Our number of customers is currently limited and there are those who know about the benefits of this type of meat. They send us their orders and we prepare the product they need.
Ahmad Shah Sharifi added: We want to make maximum use of ostrich products with the support of the government and enter international markets.
This post is written by Ghoghnoos55